Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out

(Recorded June 2025) In 2012, Mike was invited his film Sleepwalk With Me at Pixar and he’s been friends with filmmaker Pete Docter ever since. Known for his directorial feats of greatness with Monsters, Inc., Up, Soul, and Inside Out, Pete Docter is now the Chief Creative Officer at Pixar. Pete walks Mike through the Pixar “draft” process for developing a story, and reveals the ups and downs of being a Pixar director. Pete shares stories of his time spent with Steve Jobs, George Lucas, and some of the original Disney animators. Plus, advice on giving (and receiving) creative notes, and the story of Pete’s Star Wars fan film he made when he was a kid.
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Find Mike:
Website: https://birbigs.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/birbigs/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/birbigfans
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mikebirbiglia

Hosted and Produced by Mike Birbiglia
Producers: Peter Salomone, Joseph Birbiglia, Mabel Lewis, Gary Simons
Sound Mixed by Shubh Saran
Supervising Engineer: Kate Bilinski
Video Consultant: Graham Willoughby
Special Thanks: Marissa Hurwitz, Josh Upfal, David Raphael, Nina Cwik, J. Hope Stein, Oona
Music: Jack Antonoff and Bleachers

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Comedian Ariel Elias rose to prominence after a video of her chugging a beer that an angry heckler threw at her went viral. But the real story is more interesting, notably how Ariel drew on the incident for her act. Mike and Ariel talk about how to write jokes about upsetting experiences, and Ariel shares the highs and lows of her experiment writing one joke every day for a whole year.

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Text BIRBIGS to 917-444-7150 for updates

Find Mike:
Website: https://birbigs.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/birbigs/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/birbigfans
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mikebirbiglia

Find Ariel:
Website: https://www.arieleliascomedy.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ariel_comedy/

Hosted and Produced by Mike Birbiglia
Producers: Peter Salomone, Joseph Birbiglia, Mabel Lewis, Gary Simons
Sound Mixed by Shubh Saran
Supervising Engineer: Kate Bilinski
Video Consultant: Graham Willoughby
Special Thanks: Marissa Hurwitz, Josh Upfal, David Raphael, Nina Cwik, J. Hope Stein, Oona
Music: Jack Antonoff and Bleachers

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Comedian, podcaster, and actor Stavros Halkias is having a moment right now but he’s been doing stand-up since he was 19 years old. Stavros talks with Mike about starting out in Baltimore and hitting rock bottom healthwise just as his career was skyrocketing. Stavros discusses acting in Bugonia and this summer’s Tony, a film that reflected Mike’s own real life experience working in a Cape Cod restaurant. Plus, Mike and Stavros decide which accent is worse—Boston or Baltimore—and what Stavros means when he says he wants to go “Birbiglia mode.”

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Text BIRBIGS to 917-444-7150 for updates

Find Mike:
Website: https://birbigs.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/birbigs/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/birbigfans
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mikebirbiglia

Find Stavros:
Website: https://www.stavvy.biz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stavvybaby2/

Hosted and Produced by Mike Birbiglia
Producers: Peter Salomone, Joseph Birbiglia, Mabel Lewis, Gary Simons
Sound Mixed by Ben Kruse
Supervising Engineer: Kate Bilinski
Video Consultant: Graham Willoughby
Special Thanks: Marissa Hurwitz, Josh Upfal, David Raphael, Nina Cwik, J. Hope Stein, Oona
Music: Jack Antonoff and Bleachers

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Mike is joined by comedian and writer Emmy Blotnick, whose new special “What’s Her Secret?” hit YouTube this summer. Emmy, a former writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, talks about getting more personal in her new special, discussing on stage her challenging relationship with her father, and her brother’s imprisonment for financial crimes. Emmy and Mike also dive deeper in Mike’s “hot people industry” jokes, as Emmy has many thoughts about Sephora. Plus, Emmy recalls a vital piece of advice Mike gave her about a bad show business deal.

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Text BIRBIGS to 917-444-7150 for updates

Find Mike:
Website: https://birbigs.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/birbigs/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/birbigfans
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mikebirbiglia

Find Emmy:
Website: https://www.emmyblotnick.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmyblotnick/

Hosted and Produced by Mike Birbiglia
Producers: Peter Salomone, Joseph Birbiglia, Mabel Lewis, Gary Simons
Sound Mixed by Ben Kruse
Supervising Engineer: Kate Bilinski
Video Consultant: Graham Willoughby
Special Thanks: Marissa Hurwitz, Josh Upfal, David Raphael, Nina Cwik, J. Hope Stein, Oona
Music: Jack Antonoff and Bleachers

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week Mike presents a selection of some of the best bits of advice about creativity from some of his favorite episodes. Featuring:
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Jenny Slate
KC Shornima
James Acaster
Ira Glass
Elizabeth Gilbert
Jack Antonoff
Pete Docter
Bridget Everett
Josh Johnson
Stephen Colbert

Text BIRBIGS to 917-444-7150 for updates

Find Mike:
Website: https://birbigs.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/birbigs/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/birbigfans
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mikebirbiglia

Hosted and Produced by Mike Birbiglia
Producers: Peter Salomone, Joseph Birbiglia, Mabel Lewis, Gary Simons
Sound Mixed by Kate Bilinski, Shubh Saran, and Ben Kruse
Supervising Engineer: Kate Bilinski
Video Consultant: Graham Willoughby
Special Thanks: Marissa Hurwitz, Josh Upfal, David Raphael, Nina Cwik, J. Hope Stein, Oona
Music: Jack Antonoff and Bleachers

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.